On how we heal; trusting that you know what you need to heal, to thrive, to rest and to rewrite your story.
Alex Elle is a NYT Bestselling Author, certified breathwork coach, and Restorative Writing teacher living in Maryland with her family.
- 0:42 Introducing Alex Elle; How We Heal; 4 Steps on How We Heal
- 4:00 Journaling journey; Writing to heal, writing to get clear, writing to get kind and writing to get to know myself.
- 7:00 Giving young people the tools to to grow in emotional awareness. Healing by example.
- 9:00 Starting from scratch; Peach cobbler story – The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
- 12:10 Some people just are who they are and can’t necessarily show up as we expect them to; Allow the adversity in your life to show you just how much you are learning.
- 15:00 Beginning to journal about trauma and baby steps to get started; It’s never easy, but it’s always worth it.
- 18:55 Writing about people in a potentially negative way with grace; Holding grudges keeping us from being free; Blaming our younger selves for the actions of our parents.
- 23:10 Pain Can Feel Like…, Healing Can Feel Like…, Both Can Feel Like…; Reclaiming your power
- 26:00 Finding therapy sessions, prayers, meditations, etc. not enough to sustain the healing work, and needing more support; Learning to trust I know what I need; Faith without works is dead.
- 29:00 Our healing is an act of community service. It is not just for us, but for everyone we come in contact with. The healed version of me recognizes the unhealed version of you.
- 31:15 Rewriting your narrative: Taking ownership over who you are and what you want to be; Making space for joy.
- 34:00 Nurturing your inner child. Pain that relates to pain from the past. Beginning to think new thoughts of joy and thriving. I am releasing to receive and I am open to what is for me.
- 37:00 Compassion and connection are essential to this work. Practicing and exercising our compassion, grace, joy, etc.
- 39:20 Healing is an active process; Choosing to walk away from titles as a reclamation of self. Writing the book I want to write, not the book people want to see from me.
- 43:05 Hospicing Modernity: Facing Humanity’s Wrongs and the Implications for Social Activism by Vanessa Machada de Oliveira
- 45:10 Things that bring me joy help me heal. We know that physically in our bodies there are endorphins and other things signaled when we laugh and smile.
Writing came into her life by way of therapy and the exploration of healing through journaling and mindfulness. The intention behind Alex’s work is to build community & healing practices through literature & language.
Alex teaches workshops, courses, and retreats to assist others in finding their voices and create clarity in their lives & relationships.
Hi! As a writer and a long-time educator and teacher of teachers, I really enjoyed this podcast. Many of us teachers have been doing this work in the classroom for years (in my case, 30). I started a Mindfulness and Literacy training program to use literature as medicine and writing as cure–addressing the ways that mindfulness and literacy intersect in the cultivation of empathy and compassion and self-discovery/love and observing and learning about the world and others. I also believe that we need to focus on the social/emotional aspects of education as much as or more than academics (because when students are in fight/flight/freeze, they can’t learn). Also, I’m thinking of groups I work with such as Holistic Life Foundation, which bring mindfulness and self-love practices to schools. Thank you for inspiring with the work you do around writing, Alex! And thank you for interviewing, Elena!
Thank you so much for listening, Sarah. Thrilled to speak with Alex and agreed on all. The Perceptive Parenting Course is based on SEL and I have the same commitment.